STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Canal Walk in October, in Full Color

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 8 November 2026

Woman in a rust coat hugs her partner in an olive fleece by a canal in October, a tree-lined bridge and moored boats behind them

Miles and Josie came to Amsterdam from the United States in mid-October, and a canal walk in October was their way to meet the city. They have a travel habit: a new city, a new photographer.

So between visits to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, they kept one gray autumn day free for photos.

They booked one of my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam, and I mapped out a route through the canal belt, past bridges, bikes and gabled houses.

Bikes on the First Bridge

We started on a bridge lined with parked bikes, the canal and its trees behind them. Josie wore a long rust-colored coat, Miles an olive fleece jacket over a white T-shirt. Against the green water and the gray sky, those two colors carried every frame.

Couple standing close on a bridge lined with parked bikes, the canal and its tall trees stretching away behind them — The first bridge of the walk, lined with bikes

A few steps on, a row of gabled houses rose at the end of the bridge. They walked toward it hand in hand, and Josie looked back at me over her shoulder.

Hand in hand, a couple walks across a canal bridge toward a row of white and red-brick gabled houses

Woman in a rust coat looks back over her shoulder and smiles, holding hands with her partner below tall gabled houses

A Canal Walk in October

This canal walk in October had no script beyond the route. I asked them to talk, to stop wherever something caught their eye, and to forget about me for a while. On one bridge, Miles simply took Josie’s hand and spun her around.

On a canal bridge, he lifts her hand and spins her around, her long hair flying, gabled houses with white cornices behind

Between bridges, they stopped at the railing and turned to each other. Josie laughed at something he said, and he just smiled back.

Seen from behind, she holds his hands by the canal railing while he smiles down at her, his hair tied up in a knot

Laughing face to face by an old lamppost, she in a rust coat and he in an olive fleece, dark canal houses behind them

Along the water, they walked side by side, leaning in now and then, the trees on the far bank just starting to turn.

Walking side by side along a canal railing in October, she in ankle boots and he in sneakers, the water and trees behind — Along the railing, the first yellow leaves of autumn

A Ring and a Rust Coat

Up close, the small things told the story. Josie’s hand rested on the curly fleece of his shoulder, her ring catching the gray light. Later, she reached out over the water, as if to touch the canal itself.

Her hand with a diamond ring and dark red nails rests on the curly olive fleece of his shoulder, his hair in a bun

Her hand reaches out over the canal in October, a ring on her finger, the rust sleeve of her coat at the edge of the frame

On a wooden bench by the canal, they sat close and smiled into the lens, an old lamppost and a row of trees above them.

Sitting close on a canal-side bench, both smiling into the lens, an old lamppost and leafy trees above them in October

A Bridge Strung With Lights

Near the end, we found a bridge with a string of yellow bulbs along its arch. They sat down on the stone ledge by the water with their backs to me, and I waited until Josie turned toward him.

On a stone ledge by the canal, she leans into him with her back to the lens, a bridge arch lined with yellow bulbs behind

Wide view of the couple hugging on the quay beside a canal bridge, its arch strung with yellow lights, bikes on the railing above

Then I crossed the canal for a wide frame. Below a red-brick house with lit windows, the two of them sat on the quay wall, small against the city.

Far across the water, the couple sits on a canal quay wall below a red-brick house with lit windows on an October day — A quay wall below a house with lit windows

Next to these digital photos, I shot one roll of black-and-white film that day, and that roll has its own story.

The End of an Autumn Canal Walk

We ended on a quiet street lined with trees and bollards. Close together, they smiled into the lens, then leaned in until their foreheads touched.

Smiling into the lens on their canal walk in October, her hand with the ring resting on his olive fleece jacket

Foreheads touching and eyes closed, she in a rust coat and he in an olive fleece, canal houses soft behind them

Finally, they walked off down the street, side by side, and stopped once more for a kiss. Within 7 days, their digital gallery was ready, and the film photos followed within 15 days, once the lab had developed the roll.

Seen from behind, the couple walks hand in hand down a quiet tree-lined street of tall canal houses, a red car on the right

A kiss on a quiet street off the canal in October, bollards and bikes along the curb, his hand on her rust coat

Planning a trip to Amsterdam for two? See how my couple photoshoots in Amsterdam work.